Insights and Issues in the ongoing Jewish-Christian Dialogue

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This site is devoted to fostering mutual respect and understanding between Christians and Jews around the world. Here you will find articles, reviews, reports, official statements, and study resources on Jewish-Christian relations, as well as links to many related organizations. Please click on Contact to offer feedback or propose additions to the site.

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ICCJ

International Council of Christians and Jews

This site is owned and maintained by the International Council of Christians and Jews, which has 38 Christian-Jewish and interreligious member organizations in 32 countries. Its headquarters is in the Martin Buber House in Heppenheim, Germany, where the great Jewish thinker lived until Nazi persecution forced him to flee.

Through its annual conferences and other consultations the ICCJ offers a platform where Christians, Jews, and in recent years Muslims as well, examine current issues across national and religious boundaries, providing the opportunity for face-to-face exchanges of experience and expertise.

The views expressed on this website do not necessarily represent the views of the ICCJ, its Executive Board, or its national member organizations. For more details please see our legal notice.

Articles | Scholarly Contributions

Jewish Views of Christianity: Some Reflections

Much has been written in recent years on Jewish-Christian relations, including developments in Jewish attitudes towards Christianity. ... [more]

Reports

Back from Lund. Impressions of the 2019 Conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews

Liliane Apotheker| 01.09.2019

The International Council of Christians and Jews held its annual international conference in Lund, Sweden on June 30 - July 3, 2019. This year's theme was "Transformations Within and Between: How Does Our New Relationship Affect Christian and Jewish Self-Understandings?" ICCJ First VIce-President, Liliane Apotheker, has written her impressions of the conference, which follows below.... [more]

Reports (373)

July 11, 2019 — New York. Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, has been elected Chair of IJCIC, the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations.
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Shared Heritage program for Polish Christian Leadership

Forum for Dialogue*| 01.09.2019

Being at the forefront of Polish/Jewish, we have seen the need to address the position of Christian churches and traditions in Polish/Jewish relations.
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Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent

News (1)

Canadian Rabbinic Caucus and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops: Bilateral dialogue holds biannual meeting

JCR| 31.12.2017

Tuesday, December 05 2017 - The national bilateral dialogue of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus met for its biannual meeting on 29 November 2017 at the Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Montreal.
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Statements | Protestant (46)

On the eve of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation

The United Protestant Church of Belgium*| 31.01.2017

This letter to the President of the Central Israelite Consistory in Belgium, Mr. Philippe Markiewicz LL.M., was read by the President of the United Protestant Church in Belgium, Rev. Steven H. Fuite, on Thursday, December 1st 2016, in the Great Synagogue in Brussels during the 6th annual colloquium of the group “Juifs et chrétiens, engageons-nous!” (“Jews and Christians, let us commit ourselves!”). The colloquium was attended by more than 200 people who discussed recent statements on Jewish-Christian relations.
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"… he keeps faith forever." (Psalm 146:6)

Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany| 30.11.2016

Declaration of the 12th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany in its 3rd Session.
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Martin Luther and the Jews. A necessary reminder on the occasion of the Reformation anniversary

Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)| 29.02.2016

Declaration, adopted during the 2nd session of the 12th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), 8 to 11 November 2015, Bremen
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Statements | Joint Christian-Jewish (53)

The Demands of Our Time

ICCJ| 02.03.2019

Looking with alarm and revulsion upon the current resurgence of antisemitism in many countries the ICCJ publishes a statement entitled "The Demands of Our Time"
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The Dignity of the Human Being. Children in Jewish and Catholic Teaching

| 30.11.2018

16th Bilateral Commission Meeting of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
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Joint Reflections on the Declaration “Between Jerusalem and Rome”

| 30.11.2017

Bilateral Commission Meeting of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. Jerusalem, November 12-14, 2017; MarCheshvan, 23-25, 5778.
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Statements | Jewish (14)

Between Jerusalem and Rome - כלל ופרט בין ירושלים לרומי

The Conference of European Rabbis[*] and The Rabbinical Council of America[**]| 31.01.2017

The Shared Universal and the Respected Particular. Reflections on 50 Years of Nostra Aetate.
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To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians

| 31.12.2015

After nearly two millennia of mutual hostility and alienation, we Orthodox Rabbis who lead communities, institutions and seminaries in Israel, the United States and Europe recognize the historic opportunity now before us. We seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven by accepting the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters. Jews and Christians must work together as partners to address the moral challenges of our era.
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Declaration for the Upcoming Jubilee of Brotherhood

On November 23, 2015 at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris, the "Declaration for the Upcoming Jubilee of Brotherhood," signed by various persons of the French Jewish world (Jean-François Bensahel, Rabbi Philippe Haddad, Rabbi Rivon Krygier, Raphy Marciano, Franklin Rausky), was presented by the Chief Rabbi of France, Haim Korsia to Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris. An unofficial English translation of the statement follows.
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Statements | Ecumenical (21)

The Kairos Palastine Document

| 31.07.2010

We, a group of Christian Palestinians, after prayer, reflection and an exchange of opinion, cry out from within the suffering in our country, under the Israeli occupation, with a cry of hope in the absence of all hope, a cry full of prayer and faith in a God ever vigilant, in God's divine providence for all the inhabitants of this land. Inspired by the mystery of God's love for all, the mystery of God's divine presence in the history of all peoples and, in a particular way, in the history of our country, we proclaim our word based on our Christian faith and our sense of Palestinian belonging - a word of faith, hope and love.
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Statement on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

World Counil of Churches (WCC)| 05.09.2009

1. While the decision of the United Nations (UN) of 1947 (Resolution 181) to establish two states in the land of Palestine was partially achieved with the creation of the state of Israel, the second part of this resolution is still waiting for realization: the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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Holocaust/Shoah: Its Effects on Christian Theology and Life in Argentina and Latin America

"Jesus and the Pharisees: An Interdisciplinary Reappraisal"

For a Christian any form of antisemitism is a rejection of one’s own origins, a complete contradiction

Pope Francis| 01.04.2019

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to members of the American Jewish Committee, Vatican, Consistory Hall, Friday, 8 March 2019.
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Articles | Observations & Experiences (179)

Combatting hate crimes with a Jewish humanistic response

Ron Kronish| 01.09.2019

Last week, I visited an injured Israeli Muslim bus driver in the town of Abu Gosh, just west of Jerusalem. Abu Gosh is a friendly Israeli Arab town, which has many wonderful restaurants visited by secular Israelis on Shabbat and holidays, and which runs two great music festivals a year. Many of the people whom I have known for years in Abu Gosh are actively involved in the Association for the Promotion of Tolerance and Coexistence in the Judean Hills, a non-profit organization in the area.
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Christianity and Judaism: a heightened friendship challenged by the return of anti-Semitism and ignorance

Lisa Palmieri-Billig*| 02.07.2019

In recent months, a series of events in Rome highlighted the excellent state of Jewish-Christian relations today, leading many representatives on both sides to exclaim that they have never been so good before.
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Articles | Fundamentals & Introductions (127)

Rabbi Dr. Michael A. Signer (1945-2009)

| 01.05.2019

Ten Years ago on January 10, 2009, Rabbi Michael Signer, one of the most outstanding figures of Jewish-Christian relations of recent times, died after a long battle against cancer. He was as one of the four authors of the groundbreaking 2000 statement Dabru Emet, subtitled “A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity”. In memory of his person and his work, the following biographical sketch is published.*
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"I am Joseph, Your Brother"

| 01.05.2019

A documentary film (59 min.) from 2001, which follows the dramatic changes in the relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people over the past half century.
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Women’s Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible

Articles | Scholarly Contributions (176)

Regina Coeli: A Jewish Source?

The famous Latin hymn of the Roman Catholic Church, “Regina Coeli” (alt. “Regina Caeli”), which goes back to the 12th century, praises Mary, the mother of Jesus, as “Queen of Heaven.”[1]
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Structures of Violence and the Denigration of Law in Christian Thought[1]

Barbara U. Meyer*| 02.06.2019

This article examines three major patterns of violence in Christian theological thought traditions: supersessionism (the idea that Christianity replaced Judaism), realized eschatology (the presentation of a promised future of reconciliation as basically already present in the world today), and inclusivism (the Christian impulse to integrate others as a universalist aim). Previous scholars have examined these patterns separately, but they have not previously been discussed in a comprehensive effort to analyze Christian thinking habits of degrading others, in particular Judaism.
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Statements | Orthodox (3)

To Recognize Christ in His People: Declaration by a Round Table of Eastern Orthodox Priests and Cultural Representatives

| 31.05.2007

Twelve Eastern Orthodox priests and lay leaders from Greece, Georgia, Italy, Russia, and Ukraine issued this statement at the conclusion of a five-day visit to Jerusalem, April 20-24, 2007.
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Statement by Metropolitan Yuvenali (Russian Orthodox Church) on the Alleged "Ritual" Nature of the Murder of the Royal Family

Metropolitan Yuvenali| 31.05.2005

In its historical analysis of the Ekaterinburg tragedy, the Commission could not avoid dealing with the question of the so-called ritual murder of the royal family, which continues to be the subject of press articles.
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Communique of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church Regarding Anti-Semitic Posters

| 30.04.2005

Upon learning the facts with regard to the anti-Semitic posters and graffiti that appeared in Belgrade on March 22 of this year, as well as of earlier, similar and in some cases even more blatant, inhumane and malicious demonstrations of prejudice and intolerance toward the Jewish people, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, convened today, March 24, in prayerful memory of the innocent victims of the bombing by the NATO alliance, wishes to communicate the following
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Statements | Interreligious (7)

Declaration of the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace

The specific multi-religious character of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif must be protected

| 01.05.2019

Appeal by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Holiness Pope Francis regarding Jerusalem / Al-Quds the Holy Citiy and a place of encounter. Issued during the apostolic journey of Pope Francis to Marocco, 30-31 March, 2019.
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Israel, Palestinians & Mid-East

| 31.12.2016

Declaration of the Spain Summit for Religious Peace in the Middle East
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Reports

Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See

The following is the address given by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on June 15, 2019, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See, which took place in the Major Temple in Rome.... [more]